


False prophet; False Diamond

by Outcasts_Anonymous



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Camilia realises her daughter is missing, F/F, F/M, He and the Diamonds are cool now, I am just realising I don't know how to tag for these two fandoms, Kinda, Let's give this a shot, Oh, Post-Steven Universe Future, Steven Universe Future, Steven is in a better place mentally, Steven's gonna end up in the Boiling Isles, The Diamonds visited once and they did not enjoy it, Well - Freeform, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26623924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Outcasts_Anonymous/pseuds/Outcasts_Anonymous
Summary: "Originally I came here to bring her home, but now I have the urge to dismantle another empire...""...What do you mean 'another' empire?"--------------------Or: When Camilla finally realises her daughter isn't where she says she is, and when all hope of finding her seems lost, she reaches out to Steven in one last desperate act and, well, Steven's been itching for a new adventure.
Comments: 20
Kudos: 127





	1. Prologue

* * *

> Dear Mr. Universe,
> 
> I’ll have to admit I feel rather awkward writing this; I’ve never had to do something like this before and, ideally, I’d never have to- but I am in desperate need of your help. Please know that, if I felt I had any other choice, I wouldn’t bother you with something like this; I can’t imagine how busy someone like you must be, but I have nowhere else left to turn.
> 
> A few weeks ago, I sent my daughter away to a summer camp to help her grow more in-touch with reality. She was a free spirit, and though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, sometimes I felt she struggled to separate fact from fiction. I had assumed that this camp would help her with that, so I sent her off without a second thought.
> 
> I messaged her practically every day after she left, and though she didn’t often reply with much, when she did she told me she was loving it; she even wrote me letters, though now I can’t even be sure it was her sending them.
> 
> The camp was supposed to last about a month or so, but a week or two in my messages stopped going through, and like any worried parent, I called up the camp to ask if maybe her phone had been damaged. But, much to my confusion, according to the people running the camp, my daughter had never actually even shown up; they had just assumed that I had changed my mind about sending her there without telling them, as some parents have done in the past, and as a result never bothered to check in with me.
> 
> Obviously at the time, I was confused; scared; distressed; after all, I had all this evidence telling me my daughter was there, and then they turn around and tell me that she’s not? When I told them as much they agreed to check again, though did maintain that they hadn’t encountered anyone with her name and, to cut a long and painful story short, they discovered that she had never even boarded the camp bus.
> 
> I’ve been to the police, and they’ve found nothing; they pushed the theory that she simply ran away, and haven’t been in contact since. I hired a private investigator, and all he could tell me was that she had run off into the woods by our house.
> 
> I don’t know if you’ll ever read this; I don’t even know if I have the right address- and I know that even if I do, something like this is probably far out of your range of expertise, but you really are my last hope. If it’s money you want, then you can take it all; I don’t care; I just want to see my daughter again.
> 
> Her name is Luz Noceda.
> 
> Please, find her; if anyone can, it would be you.
> 
> \- Camilia Noceda

* * *

Gently placing the letter down to his left, Steven moved to push himself back upright against his headboard, before reaching over to his right and shifting the box he had discarded there onto his lap. He had been confused at first as to what all of this had been, but with the added context, he found a cold chill running down his spine at the sheer amount of it. The parcel he had received was chock full of testimonies; interview tapes; photographs of evidence; transcripts of phone conversations; everything he could possibly need to kickstart an investigation.

Camilia Noceda was right, this was _far_ out of the range of his expertise... but he’d be damned if he let that stop him. After all, how hard could finding one lost child be? Sure, for a regular person it might be difficult, but he wasn’t a regular person, was he? That was literally why the woman had sought him out.

She had been wrong on one front however; nowadays he was _far_ from busy. The Gems hadn’t allowed him to take on anywhere near as much work as he'd been doing before his road trip, and while he did appreciate their concern, it left him sat around with nothing to do most days,

This was just the kind of thing he needed to keep himself occupied.


	2. Getting Help

“Yo, Steven; you... called..?” Peridot trailed off; her attention enraptured by the intricate web of strings that had been hung about the teen’s wall. It reminded her of her own theory board; the one she had constructed during the pique of her Camp Pining Hearts obsession- only this one was so much larger, and so much more _beautiful_. Steven was making connections between things she wouldn’t have been able to in a thousand years... well, actually, that was a lie; she _was_ the great and lovable Peridot after all, but the sentiment was still there.

In fact, she was about to voice that very sentiment; she was about give Steven her oh so important and oh so coveted seal of approval when her eyes, moving idly at this point, glossed over a newspaper clipping headlined with ‘Missing Child’, and she felt as if Lapis had suddenly dumped an entire ocean’s worth of water over her.

“Huh... Oh, Peridot! You’re here! Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in; I, uh... I was just ‘in the zone’, y’know?” Steven chuckled, rubbing at the back of his neck as he backed away from his investigative wall.

“What... is all this? Is this what you called me about?” The Gem muttered, only taking her eyes off of the wall for the briefest of moments to make sure she didn’t just walk directly into Steven as she moved to stand by his side.

“Ah, yeah, sorry about that; I just thought that all of _this_ ,” He gestured to the documents pinned to the wall, “Would have been too much to explain over the phone.” Slowly, she nodded her head in agreement. There was easily a few days worth of reading time pinned to the wall, and from a quick glance at the floor nearby, that wasn’t even all of it.

“So, I’m noticing a trend of ‘Missing Child’ on most of these pages; Steven, what's going on?” Pulling a folded piece of paper from his jeans, he passed it off to her silently, before going back to scanning over his work. It was the letter he had received the other night; the one that had asked for his help.

“Oh... Wow; this ‘Camilia Noceda’ seems _very_ desperate; especially to send off this much raw data to a location she even admitted was unconfirmed. I... assume that you’re planning on helping her?” With a heavy sigh, Steven backed up even more until he collapsed onto his bed; the springs creaking under him as he bounced. Merely following his lead, Peridot too backed up to his bed, before collapsing back onto it with much less fanfare.

“Of course she’s desperate; her child’s missing and the people who’s jobs it is to find her _haven’t_. And what kind of question is _that_ , Peridot? _Of course_ I’m gonna help her!” He was almost offended that she’d suggest he _wouldn’t_ if he were being honest.

“Okay... but just so we’re clear, this is something you’re doing because you _want_ to and not because you feel like you _have_ to, right?” The Gem questioned, turning to lay on her side so she could actually look at her friend.

 _‘Oh, so_ that’s _what this is about’_ Steven thought to himself, rolling his eyes as he rolled his body in a manner similar to Peridot; allowing the two of them to actually look at each other. There was a fond, if not exasperated, smile on his face. Peridot on the other hand looked far from comfortable at bringing it up.

“Peridot, trust me when I say this is what I want, okay? I’m... I’m in a better place now than I was before I left; it’s just so... _frustrating_ being cooped up in here all day! I get that everyone’s acting like this because they care about me, but believe it or not I _like_ helping people; that was what started this whole mess to begin with!” He had _not_ planned on venting all of this out to Peridot when he had called her over this morning, but if she was willing to listen, then he wasn’t exactly going to complain.

“I know that Steven; but studies show that addicts are likely to relapse, and it’s better to nip these things in the bud before you have a problem again!” Steven was only able to blink twice before he was forced to stifle an amused snort.

“Peridot, I was addicted to _helping_ people, not _drugs_ ,” Clearly feeling too awkward to keep looking at him, Peridot with a pout rolled back over the other way, leaving a highly amused Steven to stare at her back.

“Look, I’m just... _concerned_ about you Steven, okay? You’re one of my best friends- and knowing I contributed to your... _problem_... I feel I need to check in on you with these things.” His smile turning back into more a fond one, Steven reached out to reassuringly shake her shoulder.

“Hey, you’re one of my best friends too Peridot, and I’m _proud_ of you for taking responsibility for your actions; it’s just that, because of how many people have tried to kill me, when all of them start trying to take responsibility for their actions all at once, it just feels a little...”

“Suffocating?” The Gem provided, calling back to his earlier words.

“Yeah...” Their conversation fell into a short lull before Peridot finally turned back to face him.

“So, I know you didn’t call me over just to tell me that you were doing all of this; what is it that you need help with?” With another sigh, albeit a lighter one than before, Steven was quick to push himself further up his bed until he came to rest against his headboard, just as he had been sat the night prior. Once again following his lead, Peridot moved to sit by his side, however as she did, Steven didn’t take his eyes away from the wall.

“Well, all of that,” He once again gestured to his work, “Turned out to be mostly a waste of time; I wasn’t able to gleam any more information from it than the police or the P.I were. I wasn’t actually planning on involving you or any of the other Gems in this if I could help it, but it looks like I’m going to have to.” Peridot could almost feel the ache in Steven’s heart when he revealed that his theory board had proved ineffectual; she had had a similar moment when CPH had practically bulldozed right through all of her perfectly crafted theory work and data profiling, by having Percy pair off with a character introduced in the seventh season! The _seventh_ season!

“So... what do you need my help with?”

“Homeworld had lots of advanced tech, right? Do you think it’d be possible for you to build, like, a global tracker or something?” Steven was, admittedly, out of the loop when it came to what kind of tech Homeworld actually held; it was confusing how they could consider something like the Time-Glass a relic, which would make them a a type six civilisation, but then still struggle to take control of a single planet when a small group of Gems rebelled, meaning they couldn’t really be much more advanced than a type three.

“Oh, yeah, of course; that’s practically child's play... though, making one that would work on organics might prove a little more of a challenge; it’d have to be DNA based otherwise current Homeworld scanners would just scan the planet and give back the locations of every human and animal it could find...” Peridot mumbled, biting her lip ever so slightly; her eyes darting from side to side as she went over the multiple changes she would have to make in her head.

“So... you can do it?” Snapping out of her own little world, she gave the boy to her side a self-satisfied smirk; her hands coming to rest on her hips in the imitation of a classic superhero pose.

“You doubt me, Steven Universe? The great and lovable Peridot? Of course I can do it!” Snorting at her antics, Steven was quick to throw an arm around her shoulders, before pulling her into his chest in a side hug; spluttering and embarrassed.

“I- Wha- St-”

“Thank you, Peridot.” Freezing up for the briefest of moments, still not quite used to the whole ‘physical affection’ thing, Steven was patient as he waited for her to gingerly place her own arms around him.

“It’s fine Steven; it’s... it’s the least I could do...” The two stayed like that for a few moments longer; Peridot becoming more comfortable with the situation with each passing second, before Steven gave her arm a few quick pats, and the two pulled away from each other.

“In that case, I’m going to get started on contacting Miss Noceda; it’s strange, she sent over all of this information, but she forgot to include her phone number.” Clearing her throat as Steven bounced himself off his bed, Peridot too shuffled herself off the bed, doing her best to focus on her new task.

“Well, I’m sure it just slipped her mind. If that was all you needed, then I’m going to head back down to my workshop and begin designing that scanner; you humans are fragile after all; every day that this child is missing could spell disaster for her.” With a grim nod of his head, Steven began to search through his draws for some paper to write his letter on. If push came to shove, he could always write it on the back of one of the many pieces of paper she had sent him, but that idea didn’t really sit well with him.

“Alright, that sounds great Peridot; thanks again.”

“It’s no problem Steven, see ya!”

“See ya!” Just as the sound of his door clicking shut reached his ears, he finally dug out one of his old notebooks. It was from back when he was the principal of Little Homeschool, however unlike most, this one was only half full. It was probably the one he had been writing in before... before the ‘incident’. Flipping through the pages until he came to an empty one, he set the book down on top of the drawers, and pulled his pen from where he had let it rest atop his ear.

“Right... Here goes nothing...”

>   
>  Dear Miss Noceda,
> 
> I hope this letter finds you well. I received your package the other night, and have spent this whole morning looking through the impressive collection of documents you have amassed. I can’t begin to imagine how hard this must be for you, and I want you to know that I am going to do everything in my power to find your daughter; free of charge. I’d honestly feel horrible if I asked for money for doing something like this, especially considering that I’m already living comfortably as is.
> 
> Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything new I could gleam from what you’d sent me; it appears that though the police didn’t find everything they could have, the P.I you hired did.
> 
> But I’m not going to let that stop me.
> 
> The Gems have some very advanced scanning and tracking technology, and while it may take some time to convert it to work properly on organic life, it is not impossible. In fact, as I write this, I already have one of my closest friends working on it.
> 
> I have a feeling that we are going to be interacting far more often going forwards, and while I do like writing letters, and the feeling of professionalism that comes with them, I also feel it would be far more convenient for us to be able to text each other, so enclosed is my personal phone number.
> 
> You don’t have to worry anymore Miss Noceda, if your daughter is anywhere on Earth, then we’ll find her.
> 
> And if she isn’t on Earth? Well, we’ll just have to keep looking.
> 
>   
>  \- ~~The Diamon~~ Steven Universe


	3. Letter Recieved

You ever hear the saying 'you never really know what you have, until it's gone'? It's a pretty common saying; an _old_ saying, and, well, an undeniably cheesy one- but it's like that because it's true, and it's like that because it's never wrong; it's a solid piece of advice. You really never _do_ know what you have until it's gone; you never truly understand just how _important_ that something is, until it's _missing_...

Camilia's fingers curled weakly around her tea cup, and she stared off into her house with a distant look in her eyes. She'd been sat at her kitchen table for some time now, and yet it felt to her both as if no time had passed at all since she had taken a seat, and as if lifetimes had passed her by. It was a feeling she shouldn't have been used to, but it was a feeling that had been making itself a part of her life ever since Luz had disappeared.

And it was hard not to be familiar with a feeling that behaved like that.

She knew what that feeling was, obviously; she knew what was happening; she was a _nurse_ for God's sake- and she knew that it wasn't a _healthy_ feeling. But... she also knew that she didn't really care anymore. After all, what reason to care did she have, now, about the fact that she was disassociating?

What reason did she have to care, now, about the fact that she couldn't remember the last time she had slept; the last time she had left the house; gone to work; _eaten,_ for Christ's sake. What reason did she have to care, now, that Luz was gone?

There was none, it was that simple.

Her little light, as far as she knew it, had been extinguished.

Luz had been everything to her; Luz was her _life_. Camilia _had_ no parents, not anymore; she _had_ no husband; her only friends were her _work_ friends... everything she had done with her life she had done to support _Luz_ \- and so without Luz, what did she have left..?

It had been on a whim, if she were being honest, that she had written to Steven Universe to ask for help. The urge had come to her on a particularly bad night where the familiar feeling she had mentioned had caused her more pain than it had anything else. And if she were being honest, even then she hadn't expected anything to come of it.

After all, people couldn't even agree on whether or not the boy existed.

A half-human half-alien hybrid; the _only_ half-human half-alien hybrid, who had spent his whole life protecting the Earth; saving it from destruction and getting aliens to switch sides through song. A boy capable of bringing down an entire empire with nothing but determination, love, and a comeback. A boy who threw himself into danger time and time again just because it was the right thing to do.

He sounded too good to be true, but it was all she could think of doing to keep herself from breaking down. She had heard Luz mention his name before, in passing; whenever she'd go on one of her little rants about anime or magic or whatever it was she would rant about. Camilia... never really paid attention, to what it was her daughter spoke about; it had always just... been a thing her daughter did; rant about this and that in that excited tone of hers.

It never really crossed Camilia's mind that, one day, she might never hear those rants again; that she may never get the chance again to actually listen to what her daughter was saying.

But she remembered that name.

Steven Universe.

She figured that, even if he wasn't real; even if the address she had found was just a fake, then what was the worse that could happen? Either the boy was real, and he decided to take pity on her and help her find her daughter, or he wasn't, and that was it. If the police couldn't find her, and the detective couldn't find her- and if Steven, the next highest power, wasn't real, then she could finally move on and figure out what to do with the broken pieces of her life.

She could finally figure out how to move forwards, if she decided that moving forwards was even worth it. After all, if she _did_ decide to stop moving forwards; if she _did_ decide that it wasn't worth it, who would be around to stop her from stopping? She had no parents; no real friends...

No one would even notice until her personal leave ended, and she didn't show up to work...

It was only by the sound of the letterbox being opened that Camilia finally broke from her trance, and she looked finally down to the teacup still held wearily in her hands. It's contents were cold, but considering how she couldn't remember making it in the first place, she was unable to judge just how long it had been sat cold for. 

Slowly, she let the cup go, and pushed herself to her feet.

She didn't remember much of walking from the kitchen to the front door; being broken from her trance not doing much in the way of stopping her disassociation- however reality seemed to snap back into place for her like the setting of a bone as she cycled through the received mail for a third time. It was a little disorienting, if she were being honest, however she would have endured far _far_ more disorientation if it meant she would have received the letter now placed at the top of the pile.

It was clearly a personal letter, she could tell from the hand-written address on the front- but more than that, it was a hand-written letter from _Beach City_.

Her eyes blew wide and her stomach churned; her body began to shake and it suddenly felt much harder for the woman to breathe. This was it, wasn't it. It was as if manifested by her earlier thoughts; it was a letter from Steven Universe; it had to be. Either that, or the occupant of whoever lived at the address she had found.

Moving with more speed than she had these past few weeks combined she allowed the rest of the mail to drop to the floor as she tore the letter open. She needed to know; she needed closure; she needed an answer; good or bad; this needed to _end_. 

Her world was far more real and far more solid than it had been in weeks, and yet as she read the words 'Dear Miss Noceda' it felt as if time itself had stopped. And such a feeling only continued to grow in intensity as her eyes made their way down the paper.

She had been right. The address she had found, was legitimate. Steven Universe was real, and he...

Her eyes watered as they had nearly every day since the disappearance of her daughter, but for once; for once shining moment, they were not tears of anguish, and rage, and pain and hurt... they were tears of _joy._

It wasn't her daughter, back home; safe in her arms- but it was just as good.

It was hope.


End file.
